A Note on Manga (which is totally within the scope of this blog.)

Alright. So.

I have recently become more and more interested in manga. Which is completely different from comic books/graphic novels. Let me show you.

First of all, manga and comics/graphic novels have entirely different styles of art. Comic books and graphic novels reflect Western standards of art; the people, though in a cartoon-y style, have that quality to their face and clothes. That quality I can't describe, because I don't have a degree in Art History (yet). But manga has a more angular quality to the face, with more expressive emphasis on the eyes. There are other differences, as well, in scenery and such like.

They also have different tropes. Comics, in my experience, often involve superheroes, or people with superhuman abilities who save the world (or city) from evil. I realize that is a gross simplification, and anyways, done right the superhero trope can have infinite fascinating variations, and the characterization can be quite good. I admit I am mostly familiar with Superman, Batman, and others (not through reading them, but through pop culture). Again, I am not an expert on comic books by any means, and I am sure there are plenty of exceptions to these guidelines I've set out. 

Graphic novels, from what I see, are often more typical novels in an image form; there's a graphic novel for Artemis Fowl, for some of James Patterson's works, and other such works. Again, I am not an expert on graphic novels. I don't read them as much. But I have come across original writing in graphic novel form (one such is Amulet by Kazu Kibuishi -- which is called a graphic novel in its Amazon review, and does not have that distinctive manga style to the artwork).

But manga is both original art/writing, and is not focused on black and white/good and evil. I've come across many on supernatural themes (Soul Eater, Black Butler, etc), but also on fantasy/sci-fi themes (Full Metal Alchemist, etc), and the characters are generally more... nuanced. There's a fascination on the shades of gray. In Black Butler, for example, Ciel Phantomhive saves Victorian London from evil... but he is cold-hearted himself, and of course his butler is a demon he summoned to help avenge the Phantomhive name. In Full Metal Alchemist, brothers Ed and Alphonse Elric travel the world looking for the sorcerer's stone... but not for idealist standards. They are looking to get their bodies back, after a horrifying and forbidden alchemical ritual to raise their mother from the dead went wrong.

(Let me state again: THESE ARE TROPES. AND I AM NOT AN EXPERT ON SAID TROPES. If you are fascinated by the intricate differences between comic books, graphic novels, and manga, then do some research yourself.)

All of that being said, I do believe manga novels are a legitimate form of media, not inferior to Western artwork, and most definitely can be a books-and-writing sort of topic. A fiction novel sort of topic. Because they are like regular novels, in the sense that they convey a story (in print) through the use of characters, dialogue, backstory, plot, and narrative. And in the same way, anime (the video form of manga novels) are definitely a sort of movie/cinematic form of media, as they do the same as books except in video, moving-picture form. The same as regular movies, only anime. 

Why am I going on about this topic, you may ask? Because I keep meeting people who think anime/manga are inferior/not as good as Western "literature"/find it lowbrow entertainment/ think it's for children. And I've been watching anime, reading manga novels, and I have to say, I don't find these arguments to be true at all.

First of all, why would you compare manga and Western literature? Western literature has survived the ages, yes, but they aren't some objective marker for what is good and pure in the writing world. Western literature has generally survived by fate, luck, what-have-you. For every literary work of literature, there's a hundred good literary works that didn't survive, due to a fluke of time. And manga/anime aren't even Western; why measure them against it? What does that prove? Nothing. They stand on their own feet, and there are just as many good stories in manga/anime as you'll find in any other form of media. 

Second of all, I hate the "lowbrow/inferior entertainment for the masses" argument. That is what sci-fi/fantasy is, as well -- "lowbrow." "Inferior." There are many, many good stories, with intricacies and nuances you miss because you think the work is a fluffy nothing. I hate that argument when I come across it in my favorite genre, fantasy; and I most certainly hate it in anime/manga. It's not even about you insulting my taste in bookish things. It's about your stubborn and worrying hatred of something so... random. They're books, stories -- they won't melt your brain if they aren't considered the Western-literature standard by society. Open your mind a little, and you might find something amazing waiting beneath your nose. 

And third of all -- children? Really? I realize they look a little like cartoons, and cartoons are usually associated with children. But anime/manga is enjoyed by all ages. As are cartoons, and children's books, and other things associated with children (like Froot Loops). And I don't really think anime/manga is geared towards children. Take a look at Attack on Titan, if you hold the opinion manga is for children. I guarantee you won't be thinking that afterwards. Also, that argument ties back in with the other two -- a work isn't childish because it doesn't "compare" with "Western" standards. Because it's mainly composed of pictures, and not even pictures based off of Western ideals of art. They are legitimate stories, and have adult themes in them as often as YA and Adult novels do.

So. Consider some anime/manga, will you? It's a cool section of the bookstore. There are many wonderful, nuanced stories to be found.  

A Small Switchover (Or rather, a Big One)

So, I'm a college student. Hooray and all that.

But what I want to discuss right now is non-fiction vs. fiction. Because I am about to read a slew of articles and textbooks, and quite frankly I'll have to stop this whole "I'm gonna read in bed all day. For fun." attitude. I simply cannot afford to spend all day reading books -- novels -- in bed all day, when I have so much to learn and stuff into my head for tests and just general knowledge in case I do need it later on.*

Today I had Early and Medieval Britain. In which we learned some very interesting things (Cheddar Man, anyone?) but more specifically, my professor gave us a list of books on Celtic and Early Britain, Ireland, and that general area, in case we need to write a paper later on. (Hint hint, nudge, wink.)

And some of the titles look interesting. Lots on ancient Ireland, on Celtic Mythology and just Celtic 101, that sort of thing. And of course, it's likely to be dry reading. Dry as the textbook we have for class. And maybe a little confusing, as names change and there's no written records from that time period and etc.

But maybe I want to try it. Inure myself to the dryness of the text and engage with it in an intellectual way. What does this time period really look like? Primary sources are one thing, but modern books? Our textbook declares that this period of Britain (the 1st millenium, which is to say about from the time the Roman invaded to the time of the Norman conquest) is shaped not just by the Anglo-Saxons -- which is a belief held by a lot of scholars -- but by the whole of Europe.

(Britain at this time is very insular -- they're islands. Separated from the mainland, and not just geographically, but culturally. Rome/Greece was where the "civilization" is -- the Celts, for all intents and purposes, are stuck in a sort of Stone Age, despite the fact that they are brilliant metalworkers. I mean, they're known for painting themselves blue and rushing naked but for their shield into battle, where they are likely to fight with all the might of a mythical Berserker.)

And I want to learn about it. Ireland fascinates me. Mythology fascinates me. And the idea that there are no written records -- that all we have to go on are archaeological finds, like spears and shields and cairns and the like -- excites me. Because, like in literature, there is some level of speculation in this. It's not that my textbook is dead right and I should memorize it -- it's that I am allowed to read it and rip it apart if I like, or I can praise it to the heavens. I can form my own educated opinions, because the text serves the dual purpose of informing/educating me, and letting me decide myself if I believe what I've been given.

This is a revolutionary idea for me. AP classes, sure, tried to teach me that, but for the first time it sinks in -- I am an adult, and now I get to inform myself. It's not just doing homework; I am paying a lot of money to learn, and that I had better do.

And all of this is a roundabout way of saying that, for the time being, perhaps I want to set aside my fiction. Just for a little bit. Maybe just the semester, or just the month. But I kind of want to try my hand at nonfiction, at the reference books I brought with me but didn't think I'd ever get around to reading. At the wealth of knowledge waiting at my fingertips in our library on campus.

And maybe I'll share some of the less-dry ones here with you. My book reviews may be dominated for a while with non-fiction. Or maybe they won't. Maybe my self-imposed sentence will fall apart on me. Maybe I'll spend my time balancing fiction and textbooks.

But a small part of me tells me I need to learn to toughen up. Discipline myself. And where better to start than in my reading style? Like I said, I am up to my ears in student debt. It'd be a shame if that fell apart because I can't sit through reading my textbook. Inure myself to the world of non-fiction. Because I am decently sure that it should be worth some of my attention, too.

I have textbooks in at least six of my seven classes. All of them want me to read and understand. So I'd best get started.

*This is not to say novels teach me nothing and are a waste of time. Novels are very informative. They have taught me, at some time or another, all that I know of myself and the basics of human nature. And, of course, plenty of authors do their research, so I may take some of the general information and know that, too. But what I mean here is that college needs specifics: for example, one of my classes, my Honors Inquiry class (which is worth 1 credit hour, not the usual 3) deals with the history of my college. It used to be a plantation, there's a slave burial ground, even. But I need to research deeply -- through the archaeological and written records, I need to examine the real individuals who worked here, who lived here, and who died here, and how it is all of these people and their influences on the college founder came to the decision to turn this college from a plantation into a college. I need letters from the founder's father, not a novel set in this time period at this college. Because I am dealing strictly with this reality, and therefore I need non-fiction.

I love fiction, but I have never given much attention to non-fiction. And I think it is time for me to try it on, and the best way for me to do so, I think, is to focus on it for awhile exclusively, to get myself into the habit of reading non-fiction. That's my way of doing things: instead of trying to get it to penetrate my daydreams and bring myself to earth, I often incorporate it into my dream world and there it sticks. The details I need.

And also, by the way, this is probably necessary background reading. To understand anything on the history of a place, I need the knowledge. I will still be sitting in bed all day, reading books. But now, I do not have the luxury of reading whatever I want or feel like reading. I just want to pick up the reading I have to do, but also am curious about and want to read, also. This very long aside is because, while I feel a tad guilty for setting it aside, fiction needs to take a backseat while I figure all of this out and make some coherent form of sense in my classes.

And... I'm officially a graduate.

Today, I woke up thinking about how everyone else has to go to school.

My younger sisters and my younger brother all have school for this week. But I graduated on Saturday. I graduated. I will never be going back to high school again. 

It is both a scary and glorious feeling, this newfound freedom. I can go to college because I want to -- not because I have to. I can get a job. Move out of the house, if I had any money. Shoot, I can sit in my room all day without worrying about my school attendance and whether I'm doing all the homework I need done. Because I don't have any homework. There's no school attendance anymore. I'm done with that.

And yet, I keep this almost obsessive need to repeat those patterns. I signed up for two free online classes this summer on Coursera: one of Greek&Roman mythology and one on how, sociologically speaking, innocent people can end up in prison for a crime they never committed. (They sound interesting. If anyone's interested, you can easily search coursera.org for the classes -- it's actually a pretty well-organized site, with tons of different classes taught for free by various colleges and universities.)

Why would I sign myself up for more classes, with homework and learning and stuff? I'm not actually a fan of how education is orchestrated in this country. There's too much telling, dictating what should be memorized for a quiz/test. There's not enough emphasis on showing, on learning and that "Eureka! That's why this works!" feeling.*

But I did. I still want to learn. It's worth it, for those "Eureka!" moments when I'm trawling through the lectures and the supportive readings and the grueling agony of having to come up with an intelligent response to what I've just been lectured on. For that moment where I'm like, "So that's how Tabasco sauce is made. Wait, there are concerns for the Pompeii site today, because all the traffic that goes through wears it down? That makes so much sense!"**

That's why I'm going to college. That's why I thirst for a higher degree, a Bachelor's, a Master's, a Doctorate. That's why I plan on majoring not in English or Creative Writing, but in archaeology -- because archaeology actively searches for more knowledge about a place, through digging, through interpretation and scientific techniques. Worst case scenario: I hate my day job as an archaeologist, but unconsciously incorporate all of the history and psychology and science I know from the job into my writing. Best case scenario? I get all of my interests satisfied -- not just writing, but the culture and day-to-day details of history. I get to know more, learn more, in inter-disciplinary field, and still combine it with the fiction writing craft I love.

I've also got quite a few reference books waiting to be read. From several collections of fairy tales, legends, and myths, to writing craft books, to library books on beekeeping, forensic science, and ancient inventions, I plan to keep reading and researching all summer long. Not because I have to for some class. Just... for fun. For writing purposes (research is amazingly relevant for otherworldly fantasy). To broaden my base of knowledge, so I'm not left in the dark when it comes to any references to mythological works in literature. (And for when I go off to college!)

This summer, I am probably going to get a job at the factory where my parents work (well, my father -- my mother's busy with Master's classes at the moment). Eight hours a day, or four if it's part-time (obviously, nothing's been decided or talked about -- I graduated two days ago, for glory's sake), doing menial work with people I may or may not like, but it won't be my choice to just not work with them. From my parents' complaints, some of them won't even be industrious workers -- just people who'll watch me work and take the credit for working hard.

It'll be a lot like high school. And that's why I'm hoping that I will be able to cover the cost of college (~$5k) with scholarships and grants, and get the editing done on my novel in record time, and sending out queries and getting like, an instant response, all before college starts and maybe I'll have an advance in my pocket to spend on books and groceries. (I realize how impossible a dream that is, by the way -- even with all the free time in the world, I have a particular habit of procrastination which'll keep me from spending all that time productively.)

But I've got books to read and notes to take and two online classes to listen to. I'll be filling out paperwork for college, going to B&N and the library, pretending I know what on earth I'm doing while I experiment in cooking my own meals. (I'm going vegetarian, but the rest of my family isn't. They seem to think foregoing meat and junk food will kill them. "The protein!" they cry. "The iron!")

So, I don't think falling into the routine of familiarity will be entirely a negative experience this summer. I just got out of school, yea, and taking more classes over the summer while I wait for college classes to start seems crazy. But I've got this. I've got books. I've got the thinking capacity. And, if I'm honest, I desire to be productive this summer, not just lazing about on the couch or on my bed.

(Though, to be even more honest, there are documentaries to be watched. I will spend a goodly portion of my summer watching documentaries and reading random internet articles. Where else would I learn how Tabasco sauce is made? Programs on the History channel, the Science channel, and the -- what's it called? The Bio Channel. It's changing its name to the FYI channel, apparently, come July. Anyways, I consider such educational TV channels and shows to be a supplement to my research.)

Maybe I'll get some more scholarships. Maybe I'll finish my edits and query. Maybe I'll be researching while I watch Food Tech and How It's Made. And maybe I'll find a few talents in cooking, or in working with the clay that sits beside my desk and calls my name, or in building worlds and characters with precise words. Even while a heavy weight sinks in my chest at the thought of what can bind me and drag me down this summer, I can still hold out hope of acquiring new skill or knowledge.

Have a blessed day.

*Yes, that is an overt reference to the writing maxim, "Show don't tell." We can all learn that lesson, writers or not.

**The site gets worn down by tourists, by the way. Yea, there's a recreation of Pompeii, with all the plaster molds and everything, and people like archaeologists and managers and stuff are legitimately concerned. People who take small "souvenirs", the crowds wearing down the roads, people with heavy backpacks who accidentally knock against a section of wall or something? All wear it down. I read some articles on it a few months ago, when I was taking an online course on Coursera about archaeology.  

An Update on my Life.

Hello. I realize I haven't posted much this month. Life has slammed into me.

Let me start with the bad news. My grandfather died a few weeks ago. We had his funeral -- my mother organized the entire thing, because she's getting her master's degree in religious studies or Christianity or some other such thing in that general area of study, and she wanted to make it personal. My grandfather -- my mother's stepfather -- was married to my grandmother for 42 years. It's been a rather hard blow, to know the laughing, easygoing man I knew as Granddad Richard will now be gone from everywhere but our hearts and memories.

In better news, though, I've applied to 4 colleges and three of them have accepted me. (The fourth hasn't answered back.) All are in-state, all are offering me scholarships over $17,000, and two of them look like viable options for my future. (One is near where my other grandfather, my father's father, lives, while the other is offering a pretty substantial scholarship and entry into their honors program.)

I have been super-busy organizing things with the colleges: I've met with an admissions counselor from the latter (the one offering entry in their honors program), who promised to repeal our financial aid and see if she can't cover more, and asked me to look into scholarships outside of the college. I've scheduled an interview at the college near my grandfather's place, in order to determine if I qualify for a full-tuition scholarship. And I've been desperately researching scholarships online, to see if I can't cover some of the cost.

Good advice for this month, from my perspective.

And, while this sort of pales in comparison with the other two bits of news, and hasn't really affected my posting schedule (seeing as how it occurred only today), I have taken my first field trip since 8th grade. I'm a senior in high school now. I've been a bit anxious about it for the past week, which is why I mention it. The field trip was to Old Town Petersburg, which in case you don't know is actually old. We visited the Blandford Cemetery and the the old part of the city to take pictures, for photography class. I ended up with 4 rolls of black-and-white film (~70-80 pictures), and a curiosity for this city a half-hour's drive from my hometown.

Some cool things Petersburg has to offer:

1. In the Blandford Cemetery, the oldest gravestones dates back to the 1700s! I saw one headstone for a woman born in 1785 and died in the 1820s-1830s.
2. The Blandford Church contains fifteen or sixteen Tiffany Windows, one for each of the Confederate States. Each window depicts a saint and the state's name. The only Confederate state that didn't contribute a window was Kentucky, because it couldn't raise the funds after the Civil War. Tiffany also donated the Jeweled Cross window. I didn't get to see the windows from inside the church, to see the light shine through, but I saw the dull grayness of the windows from outside.
3. The Trapezium House was built either in the late 1700s or really early 1800s. The man who built it was an eccentric man who believed that evil spirits resided in right angles, so he built his house without any right angles whatsoever.
4.  I managed to get a shot of the Hiram Haines' Coffee and Alehouse, which has been around since pre-Civil War (early 1800s -- 1820s, I believe?), where several famous people gathered. Edgar Allen Poe had his honeymoon there, in 1839. It was reopened 2010, I believe, and is in business today. Sadly, grabbing lunch at this historic building was not on our itinerary.

What the Church looks like today (public domain photo)

I wish I had the pictures to show you, but we haven't developed the film yet. We'll be doing that next week. In the meantime, it's nice to let you know the Cockade City is still a historical treasure, one that withstood a siege during the War of 1812 and was nicknamed after its patriotism, so called by James Madison. (A cockade is like a pin they stuck in their hats, and so many people wore them and so many lost their lives during the War of 1812 that President James Madison stopped by to address them.)

So, this has been quite the eventful month. Good things tossed with the bad things, as life often likes to throw at us. For a quiet teenager who leaves her home only to go to school and the library (and occasionally Wal-Mart), the whole blasted thing is like something out of the Lord of the Rings, except my life has no obvious plot or point.

For now, I think I'll just have to take a pain-reliever for my headache, finish up a good book, and draw myself a nice hot bath. And then we'll see about April.

Have a blessed day, and hope you visit a few ancient sites yourself.

Mozart

I found a collection of Mozart's letters translated into English on Scribd. I don't normally use Scribd; usually only my mother uses it, to look up books on knitting and crochet. But I found my Nano draft, which is about Mozart, so in a research frenzy I decided to read through them and take notes.

Here are a few of those notes:

• Born: 17th January 1756 in Salzburg, Austria. Father: Leopold Mozart, an intelligent, ambitious man who's always used his knowledge of music to get ahead. Wolfgang and Nannerl were the only two of Leopold's seven children who survived.
• By the age of four, Mozart required only 30 min. - 1 hour to learn a piece of music. By age five, he was composing short pieces.
• In 1769, letter (in Latin) to his sister: "I should like to know the reason why indolence is so highly prized by very many young men, that neither by words nor blows will they suffer themselves to be roused from it."
• At the very least, he knows Latin and Italian (and, I presume, German). Very knowledgeable about opera and singing, as well.
• Apparently fond of a poet named Herr Gellert (though I believe "Herr" might be a title, not a first name.)
• August 1771: "I don't like to sleep after eating."
• 1777: he gets up at 8:30 in the morning, spends the entire morning composing/writing, then afternoons giving lessons to various individuals, and then after supper he converses with his students or reads a book.
• He always refers to his mother as "mamma," even in 1777 when he is almost 20 years old.
• Seems to be very honest and good-natured; in a letter to his cousin, he rhymes the entire thing.

This is a somewhat short list, but rather specific. And it sort of makes me rethink making him the bad guy in my Nano draft; it's easy to see why no one touches him in regular fiction. But I still want to make him a bad guy, even if it's just because he's too good-humored for me. I think I've settled on making a Bad Guy By Neglect.

Perhaps one day I'll manage to organize and edit this Nano draft into a proper novel. And while he might not figure quite so large a role as the villain, he might still make a great source for tension, busy as he is with all that opera-writing.

Have a blessed day. :)

Small Update

I am really busy with my writing. Currently at around 28,000 words -- 2k less than where I should be. On the other hand, I can't really regret my trip to the library today. (And I only got 10 books this time. That's a good step down from 15 books, when I'm trying to write instead of read!)

In other news, I have trawled through many Wikipedia articles. Some of the ones I have up right now:

• This one, Emperor Ai of the Han dynasty, was a homosexual ruler of China.
• The idea of Hijra in South Asia, where men can dress and act like women;
• Grace O'Malley, (aka Granuaile) the female Irish pirate from the 1500s,
• and Charles d'Eon, a very early openly transgender woman who also happened to be a French soldier and spy.

I do not consider this to be a waste of my time. It does, however, provide me with a lot of distraction and Shiny New Ideas. I mean, tell me -- which of the above could possibly not spark off an idea in the creative brain?!

There's not much else to tell. I've barely finished a book. Too busy writing. Too busy balancing schoolwork/homework with that writing. Not much else to tell.

Have a blessed Monday and Tuesday. :)

Guess What? I'm Not Dead.

Sorry I haven't posted for, like, a week. Yay, look at this. I'm not dead.

Normally, I wouldn't post such an obvious sentence, but I stayed after school today for an early celebration of El Dia de Los Muertos. (I'm in the National Spanish Honor Society, by the way. I didn't just randomly decide to celebrate the dead with a group of friends.) Some quick facts:

• This is celebrated on November 1st and 2nd. (We had ours early because the end of our 9 weeks is then, and everybody but the teachers are just relaxing. The 9 weeks is about half the semester, if you don't know.)
• Yes, it literally stands for "The Day of the Dead." It's celebrated in Mexico.
• What do they do? They put on skeleton masks, they buy these orange-y marigold-type flowers, they eat candy skulls (calaveras) and coffins. They leave food and flowers for their dead loved ones and celebrate their good memories of the person.
• It's basically that. It's a celebration of the lives of the people who've passed on, and a sort of laugh in the face of death sort of thing.

Yea, so we painted glass jars and listened to music and ate popcorn and Pringles. It was pretty fun. Mine sucked, which is why I'm not taking pictures of it.

So, yea. You now know I do stuff in my spare time, extracurricular stuff so my college application won't read, "And... I do nothing but compose the occasional blog post and read books." That would look sort of pathetic, doing nothing but reading. Ahem. (Not like I did exactly that since pretty much sophomore year.)

Anyways, I've been thinking of future-y stuff ever since Saturday, when I attended an Open House at a local college. Now my guts are twisting as I think of traveling abroad before I go to college, or at least traveling up and down the East Coast, and think of what college to attend assuming they all accept me, and think of what sort of career I'll have besides writing. Big picture stuff I generally avoid, because it makes me anxious.

And will I travel to Mexico one day, and celebrate the Day of the Dead? Maybe one day. Maybe the day I stop getting over my fear of leaving my little county.

Have a blessed Wednesday.

Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson

If an entire nation could seek its freedom, why not a girl?
As the Revolutionary War begins, thirteen-year-old Isabel wages her own fight... for freedom. Promised freedom upon the death of their owner, she and her sister, Ruth, in a cruel twist of fate become the property of a malicious New York City couple, the Locktons, who have no sympathy for the American Revolution and even less for Ruth and Isabel. When Isabel meets Curzon, a slave with ties to the Patriots, he encourages her to spy on her owners, who know details of British plans for invasion. She is reluctant at first, but when the unthinkable happens to Ruth, Isabel realizes her loyalty is available to the bidder who can provide her with freedom.
From acclaimed author Laurie Halse Anderson comes this compelling, impeccably researched novel that shows the lengths we can go to cast off our chains, both physical and spiritual.

~Print copy (library), 300 pages
Published: 2008 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Yes, I saw Laurie Halse Anderson's name and picked this up. I am a fan of her Speak and Wintergirls, as well.

And, also... well, I do like psychological, kidnap/slave/people-as-property stories, where the protagonist emerges from that situation and deals with the aftereffects. Which sounds wrong, but I swear, I don't get off on suffering -- I just enjoy observing psychological effects. And stories where I'm really punched in the gut by the protag's suffering. It keeps the mind empathetic.

Chains, in essence, is a historical fiction, of course, not a psychological horror/thriller story. But as I read through, I loved the metaphor, the easily-grasped way of looking at the psychology. Isabel, a slave from Rhode Island whose owner's will granted her freedom, is taken anyways to New York, where she and her sister are sold to -- well, really, the only bidders.

Through the beginnings of the war -- the signing of the Declaration of Independence, through the British occupation, to a great fire in New York City during this time -- Isabel wants nothing to do with it. All she knows are the newspaper stories, as her last owner had taught her to read, and the oppression under the Locktons. 

I don't doubt that Isabel would've considered the Locktons' treatment of her to be normal. Completely UN-oppressive. IF it hadn't been for the way Madam Lockton treated Ruth.

Because, you see, Ruth is described as simple-minded. She's five years old, has fits/seizures, and from what I gather, can't say much. Madam Lockton thinks she's possessed by the Devil, and the little girl ends up crying and in the kitchen.

Isabel, when serving Sir Lockton in his library with some of his Loyalist companions, stands in the corner and cannot help overhearing details of Loyalist plans. Because she is just a slave, and has no ears at all as far as the men are concerned.

Curzon, a slave under a Patriot, offers her a chance in a lifetime to help the Patriots by passing such information on: the Patriots will track down that lawyer with her late owner's will, giving her freedom. Freedom to go back to Rhode Island, where her mother is buried. Freedom to leave the beatings, the cold, the rags, and the humiliation of serving the Locktons. And best yet, the freedom for Ruth not to be beaten.

The characterization of this novel really brings the convoluted American Revolution to life. Even though, yes, I'm American, and I'm glad I have liberty and freedom and all that, the plight of these two slave girls -- even if they're fictional -- brings home the complicated philosophy behind an event in American history I don't pay much mind to.

There is, first of all, the issue of slavery at all. The North, contrary to some people's beliefs, DID have slavery. Despite getting riled up over liberty and equality, slavery still held strong. and the British, on the other side, weren't fond of giving these colonists liberty and equality, but they did offer some slaves their freedom, on the condition they help the British.

Except, of course, the British only offer that deal to the slaves of Patriots, to sort of undermine their economy. Slaves were still property of their owners, and there are several parts of this book where Isabel -- though clearly in the right, or at least the understandable -- is still punished for defying the Locktons, once by being branded in the face with a letter I.

And what's a really, really good part of this novel for me? There is no romance. Curzon is a friend, who helps save her life, and she's indebted to him -- but they don't fall in love. It's so rare for me to find such a book, one without romance or romantic subplots or tropes. I feel a little lighter, knowing that not all my precious YA books are filled with romance, romance, romance.

What else? ... Did I make my opinion of Isabel clear? She's a pretty strong girl. She bears the weight of lifetimes on her shoulders, and still gets up every morning for a day of hard, back-breaking work. Her suffering, repeatedly, is referred to as "ashes" and "bees" under her skin, choking her throat, buzzing in her brain and pushing her thoughts out. She is and should be, by all rights, miserable. (I won't name specifics. Read the book.) But it doesn't leave her staring passively out a window like a certain vampire's wife we know in a muddle on the cellar floor.

It's not just her strength to stand up, though. It's her strength to stand up for her freedom. Like I mentioned, she got branded in the face for her "insolence." She visits the prison where hundreds/thousands of rebel soldiers were captured and imprisoned, to feed them scraps and "conversate," as she puts it. (Did I mention voice? This has unique antiquated-American dialect here, but not enough to make the book obscure or difficult to read.) Madam could have her sold, beaten, branded, or hung on a whim, if she finds out.

Even the ending -- a part of the novel I usually dislike -- was pretty good. I didn't realize it had a sequel until pretty much the last page (Forge), but it didn't just, like, let off. It ended with enough closure to satisfy me.

Overall, while it's not catch-my-spark material (It's not Doctor Who, Artemis Fowl, and Harry Potter all rolled into one), it is a lovely read. I enjoyed it. I would recommend it to anyone who loves a good, unique, strong voice, with no romance and good setting. 4 stars.

 

So, Life.

Some of the things that have happened in my life this week --

• I finished reading The Queen of Water by Laura Resau and Maria Virginia Farinango. I don't want to put a review of it up, though. It's a sort-of memoir, about the indigenous Ecuadorian (and part-author of this tale) Virginia Farinango's childhood as an indentured servant to mestizos, the white people. A very, very interesting read, which is mainly fact with some imaginings and details on Resau's part. I don't want to review it because I feel uncomfortable reviewing something near nonfiction, because... well, it's real. fiction is easier to judge, if you will.
• My little sister Nicole, who has down syndrome, walked into some practically-stranger's backyard and started jumping on their trampoline. They weren't home, thankfully, but I've never met these people. I'm pretty sure they're like, the son of one of my neighbors. And it took almost fifteen nerve-wracking minutes to both find and convince Nicole to come back to our house.
• I found a baby snake in my house, brown scales, 8-9 inches long. Not something I see every day. Actually, I've only seen snakes in parks and the biology-lab-place in the Science Museum. And this one was in my house -- wriggling about on our floor -- and... and... *shudders* Snake.  
• Okay, I wasn't that freaked out about it. I found a sort of curiosity in my heart that let me peer at the snake and want to observe how it startled when I stomped my feet. Mom just wanted to trap it in something and put it outside, and then to check for any family members it might be hiding.

So, that's my Friday. How about you? Know what sort of snakes are indigenous to Virginia? Read the sort-of memoir about a girl named Virginia? Have you had strange encounters with animals?

Have a blessed Friday and weekend! 

Japan

It's late, and Friday. End of the first week of school and all. Reading a good book nd happily not attending the first football game at my high school.

(On a slightly irrelevant note, anybody care to tell me what people see in football? It's all anyone can ever talk about, teachers and students alike. Why can't we all get so hyped up about Divergent or Harry Potter? You know, have shout outs about it over the intercom during morning announcements and stuff.)

But that's not what I mean to post. Today, I simply mean to post a few notes I wrote about Ancient Japan while watching a documentary.

• Any deviation on a mirror will make the light bounce off it in a different angle; "magic mirror" is a world standard, created by (16th c. Japan). You have the white sunlight that reflects off it, and if it is completely white, it is free of deviations. In 16th c., a copper plate was made and fashioned to the backside of it, seemingly decorative, but was used to manipulate the deviation on the mirror's surface to reflect an image of, say Christ when you use the white-light trick. During the persecution*, a false back concealed a picture of Christ, to let secret Christians know they were Christian, too -- the mirror surface is scraped and polished, creating the deviations, and then coated with nickel to make it look like an ordinary mirror. But it will reflect the backside.
• Clocks --  They were searching for the underlying rule of nature. When an outsider (Westerner) brought a clock to Japan as a gift in the 17th c., they took it apart to see how it worked. Based on the clock, they began all sorts of "magical" clockwork, including clockwork robots. (A tea-carrying robot for the tea ceremony.)
• It takes real skill to unravel silk worm material. It's pulled and twisted into thread, with spit making it smooth. But the traditional silk is getting more precious today.
• Architecture --Built around a central support tree, with lots of horizontal beams. Pagodas -- earthquake resistance, the central tree is not connected to the walls; the walls sway, but do not fall, because the tree absorbs the movements. 
• Samurai sword is tested for balance and flexibility. Each sword maker has their own formula. Carbon is on outside of the steel during the forging stage, until folding and heat force it inside the blade, giving it its flexibility. 
• "Floor that sings like a nightingale" -- to prevent sneak attacks on the shogun, the floor amplified sound and made it "sing." (This is a building where the shogun, or leader, lived or worked?)

This is literally copy and pasted from my notes in workflowy. (Workflowy is a website where you can organize your thoughts into lists. I highly recommend it for writers, or anyone, really.) For reference, this is from a documentary called What the Ancients Knew: Japan. You can watch it on the history channel occasionally.

How about you? What do you know about The Ancients?

Have a blessed Friday and weekend!

*Yes, there was a time in Japanese history where Christians were persecuted. In fact, all Western stuff was persecuted -- this was centuries ago, during the "spheres of influence" thing in China, and they held onto their Buddhist culture tightly. And effectively, since they are islands who can restrict Western access to their ports.    

Photography

Second day of school. I'm left with a rather strange feeling: a content, almost blissful peace, not what you'd expect after eight hours of slouching in uncomfortable chairs until your neck hurts and your brain wishes to wash away the excess of words and instructions that you've semi-listened to all day.

Does that sentence make you think this is about a boy? Some nice guy who makes the slouching, invisible girl feel like the world? Well, it isn't. (And thank goodness for that. I'm such a fussy, perfectionist person that no one could live up to my standards. Sometimes I don't live up to them.)

No, what that sentence is about is photography, designing, literature, and creativity in general. Because, you see, last period on even days is Photo 1, or Photography for Beginners.

Photo 1, I figured out, sounds like the coolest class I could've signed up for. Because, this isn't digital-camera photography, where you can photoshop it; this is a class where I need an actual film camera. My teacher recommended one built in the '80s or '90s, because fun fact: cameras from that time were built of all metal components, making them more durable.

There is a dark room, with those big sinks and shallow containers for the chemicals to help develop the film, and where, when you're working, you keep all the lights off except for a single amber-colored light that barely illuminates. Even a special door, a cylinder with two openings -- one to go in, one to go out -- with an inner cylinder that allows you to switch between the two rooms without letting in any of the harmful flourescent light. (Flourescent light can ruin the film.)

Perhaps you might already know this "dark room." But I am a sheltered teenager, and this is an entirely new concept. The only thing I really know is the typical crowded classroom, my home and church and library; we rarely went on trips, back in elementary and middle schools, and I don't go out on my own. This dark room is an unexpected and curious break from my life.

Now, it's only the second day, of course. The teacher is going to have us begin at the beginning of photography -- making cameras out of oatmeal containers and tape -- and working up to the actual film camera, which we don't need to obtain until October. (This, by the way, is an AWESOME teaching technique, one that sadly is almost never used. To build the camera, to see how it works, BEFORE picking it up and applying it. If only they did that for say, math. Or government. To see where and how and why it works, and the history behind it? Providing context makes the concept pop.)

Educational rant aside, this class already seems epic. We even have field trips, come November. I haven't been on a field trip since... what, eighth grade? 2009-2010? Years of school where there are no break except for the occasional pep rally. *shudders* When I'm an adult, I should try and fix that. If I can. If I'm not some homeless, saddened, sick shell of a person.

I do apologize. I keep getting off topic. What I mean to say is, creativity comes in many forms, and I've discovered one today: photography. It's a lot more complicated than I thought it would be, but like writing, I find that I don't dread it; I look forward to learning and growing in the study.

Now, if only every other academic and creative study were posed in a way that makes me look forward to the next class.

Have a blessed day!

Lipizzaner Horses!

Happy first of May! May is such a short, clean, flowing sort of word. May.

Unfortunately, I'm also swamped. (Another lovely word.) My AP exams are next week, and the honors state tests after that. (They're called SOLs in Virginia. I don't know what they're called elsewhere.) I hate it when schoolwork trumps everything else, but life has been designed that way for me. By the adults who keep me focused on The Future.

I'm currently watching a documentary on PBS on Lipizzaner horses, which are apparently very, very famous and very, very prestigious. The program's called Nature: Legendary White Stallions. Here are some quick notes:

• In the Spanish Riding School, all 73 horses are taken seriously.
• The man in charge is the equiary. (sp?)
• All of the horses are descended from just six horses!
• Personality is crucial in determining where their stalls are in the stable.
• The school was founded by a king in the early 1700s.
• But there are no books in this school; all the knowledge is passed on orally.
• Horseback riding (dancing?) is an artwork, a craft, to them.
• These horses are trained to be able to rear on two legs, and to leap and kick their back hooves at the same time. Also, they're trained to get through an obstacle course with minimal aid from the rider.
• The white horses are born brown or black; it takes six years for their coats to turn white.*
• While at one point these horses came in all colors, they've selectively bred for white for centuries. Now, a dark coat on a horse is rare and lucky.
• These horses are the best documented in the world, courtesy of the Austrian(Hungarian?) bureaucracy.
• Earliest, the Moors, or the Muslim nomads, used these horses to invade Spain. They conquered it in the year 711.This time period was characterized by religious tolerance and a Golden Age.
• It would take 700 years until the Christians took it back, under the leadership of Isabella and Ferdinand. In the infamous Spanish Inquisition.**
• These Arabic left their mark on horse-breeding in Spain, though. Beauty, refinement, power -- these Spanish horses became coveted luxuries.
• In the 1500s, classical horse riding became popular again. Archduke Charles of Austria came to bring these horses into European popularity and to domesticate them to the landscape. (1580?)

Well, that's what I've got. I'm eating supper, watching TV, and writing a blog post at the same time, so pardon any inaccuracies. I'm prone to mishearing things.

Horses are an interesting topic. I haven't really seen a horse since a questionable memory of my older sister riding them in fairs. (That might have been a dream. I don't know.) But I've always wanted to be able to ride one. Animals are lovely, intelligent creatures, and I'd kinda like to see that same personality in a horse's eyes that I see in a cat's.

But this is me meandering. Pontificating. Etc.

How about you? Do you love horses? Did you find a bit of this interesting, or perhaps all of it? Anything I said that sounds inaccurate? Have a blessed Wednesday!

*This is not too shocking to me. It reminds me of how Siamese kittens are born completely white, but the color on their face, paws, and tail come in later. I've raised plenty of Siamese kittens. I know. I've also raised cats whose eyes start out blue but turn yellow over time, but that's only indirectly related.

**I recently read a verse novel on the Spanish Inquisition. Actually, it's the last post before this one -- you see it? Right there in the Blog Archives. It's called the Apprentice's Masterpiece. Also, let me clarify: the Spanish Inquisition was super evil and lasted 3 centuries; it killed hundreds of thousands. I might do a post on that sometime.

The Apprentice's Masterpiece by Melanie Little

Fifteenth-century Spain is one of the most enlightened cultures on record -- one in which Jews, Muslims, and Christians coexist within an atmosphere of respect. Then the zealous Queen Isabella enacts policies that put an abrupt end to the peace. Violence, mistrust, and intolerance shadow everyone as the Spanish Inquisition takes shape. In this fear-filled atmosphere, fifteen-year-old scribe Ramon Benveniste must hide the family's secret. They are conversos: Jews converted to Christianity.

One day a young man is delivered to the door. Amir wears the robe and red patch of a Muslim. Soon, both Ramon and Amir are caught up in dramatic events they cannot escape.

Little's elegant verse breathes life into memorable characters and captures the turbulence of the period. Drawing on extensive research, she has crafted brilliant, inescapably real story about one of the most politically complex and troubling times in human history.

The plight of Amir, Ramon, and his family is a powerful reminder of the importance of examining the past.

~Print copy (from the library), 409 pages
Published: 2008 by Annick Press

You can kind of tell this is a powerful book by their use of the word "inescapably" up there in the summary. I've never heard a book described with that word, but it fits.

I picked up this book from my school library with a strange feeling. It's not a big book, but it has a weight to it: a feeling that this book contains something very important. It's the sort of feeling I might expect to find if I pick up an ancient tome that reveals the secrets of the universe.

Before you call me a romantic, fantasy-stuffed daydreamer, that feeling proved to be a factor in my reading this. That sort of feeling makes you want to read it, but I was still reluctant. I didn't really want to read 400 pages of dense, historical, important and weighty material.

It didn't turn out that way, though. This is a verse novel. Not what I was expecting, but it suits this book perfectly. It is still weighty and meaningful, but it not so dense and unenjoyable. In fact, it was quite deep. It really changes the way you look at things.

(And, in case you're like me, the 15th century means the 1400s. Specifically, this takes place about 1485-1490, thereabouts.)

This book is told in three parts: the first in Ramon's POV, the 2nd in Amir's, and the 3rd back in Ramon's (four years later). As I said, written in verse; it reads and looks like freestyle poetry. I've always admired verse novels. To fit a whole story in those scarce stanzas, I think modern literature should be proud.

Anyways, the book itself tells of the Spanish Inquisition, and two boys caught up in it. Of course, the Spanish Inquisition was more like three centuries long, much too long for them to be caught up in the whole Inquisition, or even in the starting of it.

Ramon is kind of selfish in the first part. He changes in the third, after an event. But Amir is a slave, given as a gift to Ramon's family by some wealthy client. Ramon hates Amir at first sight; poor scribes have no need for a slave, and Amir is only another mouth to feed.

I don't really want to mention everything else. It's too tied to the ending. But trust me, it's some good stuff.

Anyways, the plot is very thoughtful. Amir and Ramon push things along, not just a product of the plot as you see in some books. Events and characters are equal culprits in this plot.

Overall, it's a good read. I'm glad I read it; it changed how I viewed things. Before, Isabella and Ferdinand were the monarchs who gave Chris Columbus aid to Sail the Ocean Blue. Now, the monarchs are the distant masterminds of an Inquisition that destroys lives.

I didn't know whether to give this a four or a five, honestly. I decided a 4.5, which rounds up to 5 stars. I really would recommend this to most people, but most especially if you love history being brought to life.

  

History stuffs: the South

Every Wednesday (or thereabouts), I want to post random spots of history for either the begninnings of research, or as inspiration, or for fun. Because trivia is always cool.

This week, I will post about the Southern* culture. And slavery. And stuffs like that.

Some Truths about Slavery:

• Less than 10% of the 8 million people in the South owned slaves.
• 1/2 of all slaveowners owned 4 or less.
• 15% of that original <10% owned 30 or more.
• Less than 2,000 people owned more than 100.
• Less than 14 people owned more than 500.
• Only one person owned more than 1,000 slaves.
• (Source: 1860 census)

The Hierarchy:

• "Slaveocracy" (plantation farmers) vs. the "Plain Folk" (white yeoman farmers) -- 6 million people.
• Black freemen -- 250,000 people.
• Black slaves -- 3,200,000 people.
• poor whites -- unknown (to me, at least). These were the "hillbillies": landless, living in barren, swampy lands, and were usually diseased (malaria, hookworm) because they didn't wear proper clothing.

So, rich and white middle class on top, black freemen beneath them, then the black slaves and the landless whites.



Southern Economy

• dependent on imported clothes, foodstuffs, and furniture; they exported mainly cotton, tobacco, rice, and sugar.
• debtor's region -- needed Northern capital.
• Most of South's assets were tied up in land, slaves
• Slavery was supposed to die out early 1800s, but the invention of the cotton gin in 1793 made it profitable. so, they bought more land and produced more cotton with more slaves, so they could buy more land and slaves to produce more cotton to keep up with demand and competition.
• More than 1/2 of American exports came from the South, esp. cotton.
• There was little industry, few cities in the South -- about 10% of overall manufacturing came from the South.

Why so Pro-slavery?

• Slaves were considered property, yes. But they were valuable property -- most wouldn't beat their slaves too badly/kill them: 4 million slaves in the South = a $2 billion investment.
• A couple of slave rebellions in the early 1800s (i.e. Nat Turner's rebellion) and a northern abolitionist newspaper (written by a man named William Lloyd Garrison) called the Liberator spooked the Southern elite into paranoia, so they began supporting slavery with the Positive Good Theory.
• Some of their arguments: master-slave relationships were like family. Slavery is supported in the Bible and by Aristotle. Slaves were better off working in the sunshine without fear of unemployment instead of working in a Northern factory on minimum wage. (This was before labor laws -- children worked, workplaces were unsafe and unclean, people worked twelve-hour days for minimum pay and could be replaced arbitrarily.)  
• Northerners, in this time period, didn't actually even like blacks. In fact, the US actually set up a colony in Africa, called Liberia, for free blacks. After all, free blacks would take even more jobs away from white citizens, and most still thought they were inferior, but they deserved basic human rights. So, the solution was to ship them somewhere where they could acclomplish both.
• The North depended on South for cotton for their textile industries. Abolitionism rocked the economical boat; it was hated there, too. But the evilness of slavery daunted Northern mindset, and quite a few opposed letting slavery become part of the new Western territories (i.e. Oregon, Nebraska/Kansas, California).

I know it's a common misconception that all of the South used a ton of slaves for only cotton, but that is not the case. There was a somewhat diversity of crops and few had slaves. It's also a misconception that all the people of the North were extreme abolitionists, who were bent on making the South see the evilness of slavery and supported equality. Most were on the edge: the common factory worker.

In all truth, all the hype about racism and slavery? Racism was really started with a concept called White Supremacy. By the British and Europeans. You know, the original white people? They entered a technological boom circa 1600s-1700s, when they colonized Africa and America. The Africans were already trading slaves among themselves, and the Europeans butted into that market and took it over, using them in the South where it was warmer than Britain and the slaves somewhat had a chance of living. Also, it was cheaper than all those indentured servants, who eventually grew out of their contract anyways.

There was one place in South Carolina that tried to refuse slaves in the 1700s -- but Britain forced them to keep using it. Therefore, in the 1800s, after the Revolutionary War, slavery was something of a habit. Slavery was needed for the large tracts of lands used by the rich. Somewhere along the line, the truth became distorted, and the Southern stereotype became that horizonless tract of slaves and cotton. The Northern stereotype became that of an abolitionist willing to resort to violence to get what they wanted.

And thus the Civil War started. Because people looked at stereotypes, and their own Racial Supremacy feelings, and things became kinda hazy.

Yes, this is what I learned in AP American History: how to defend the South (of which I am a part). All of this came from my school notes and my AP American History textbook. I apologize for my semi-relevant rant on racism, but I want you to understand that slavery and racism isn't a Southern thing, it's no one's fault, etc. History is a big ole set of extenuating circumstances, where people did what they thought was best for their future, and obviously there were... discrepencies.

Have a blessed Wednesday and don't hate people! :)


  
*It comes to my attention that not everyone actually capitalizes North and South when talking about America. Or really, anytime. I've always capitalized them, whether I'm talking about directions or America. And I will continue to because I'm more stubborn than a mule.

On History Stuffs #2

So, every Wednesday, I'm going to post random little spots of history, for your use as the beginnings of research or just for fun (because trivia IS fun). This week's topic:

The French Revolution "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity"

What it Was:

• began in 1789
• overthrew the Bourbon monarchy
• created a republic
• ended with Napoleon's rise and the creation of his empire

Causes:

• changes in ideology (the Enlightenment)
• social changes (population growth --> not enough food)
• First Estate and Second Estate were the clergy/nobles, who were small social class: most of the people were the Third Estate, or the day laborers.
• Sharp economic slump, that King Louis XVI tried to fix with unpopular tax reforms

The Rev:

• Third Estate formed a new assembly (National Assembly), made of non-noble property owners
• They wrote Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen --> advocated freedom of thought/equality for all
• They formed a strong parliament
• Stormed the Bastille (a prison), where they didn't free many but started the rev
• Eventually captured the king and queen -- Queen Marie Antoinette organized an escape for the royal family, but failed.

The Reign of Terror:

• Led by Robespierre and his Committee of Public Safety
• excessive use of the guillotine (including on King Louis)
• try to replace the church/religion with nationalism and Enlightenment reason
• Robespierre himself is eventually beheaded by the guillotine

The Final Phase:

• Napoleon Bonaparte takes charge, becomes emperor
• reduced parliament, limited freedome of expression
• powerful police system, universities to train bureaucrats, male equality, religious freedom
• Aggressive expansionism, gaining territory for France all through Europe
• Eventually stopped by Russia --> it was winter, in Russia... his soldiers could not survive.

Results:

• Congress of Vienna (1815) --> France not punished as long as European balance of power is restored.
• Revolutionary ideas spread across Europe inspiring other revolutions and demanding changes (and to other parts of the world, i.e. Latin America)

Now, this scrapes the bare minimum of the French Rev. This is all I gleaned from my notes, since I'm in a bit of a rush. There's a TON more stuff about this particular topic, and it's quite fascinating. I recommend at least googling it.

This is one of my favorite topics, actually. I don't know why, it's just all the... blood, and spirit, and how everyone really believed that killing the King and Queen would solve an economic/social crisis. I mean, America did something similar, in declaring their rights as equal to their "superiors", Britain, but America always struck me as less bloody, perhaps because it was a formal war.

I didn't really put how all this affected other places, but it did. It seriously screwed up Europe: part of the Congress of Vienna was going back and rearranging the borders of all the countries again, because France took so much. And it disturbed American politics, as well, and as I said, inspired a bunch of other revolutions in Europe. But this post is more on the Rev itself, on France in this time period. If you want more specifics, Google it.

Again, I have a historyteachers Youtube video. It'll give you a bit more specifics.

[I used my history notes from AP World History last year on this post. And a spot of info from a notebook I kept in elementary school, which I didn't remember until I flipped through it. Weird. Anyways, citing my sources and all that.]

What do you think of the French Revolution? Have a blessed day!

On History Stuffs #1

I've decided to do a series of posts on Wednesdays on random spots in history. Fun facts, easy research, or an idea -- history is pretty useful, so here's a little extra knowledge:

The Bubonic Plague, aka The Black Death

What It Was:

• a plague that wiped out 1/3 of Europe's population.
• a person might be in full health one day, and die miserably within 24 hours.
• Recurrence of plague thoughout the 14th century (1300s).

Short Term Effects:

• population decline.
• normal rituals/ordinary routines were thrown out the window as panic ruled.
• Attacks on the Jews, who were thought to be spreading the pestilence (though we know nowadays, of course, that it was fleas on rats, not Jews).
• Rational theology (the study of God) was replaced with mysticism and fear of God's wrath.
• fear, horror, and panic as people died rapidly.

Long Term Effects:

• Decline of Latin as a language.
• rise of vernacular (spoken) tongues as a medium for serious writing.
• Art: sterner portrayals of religious figures/scenes; death was a prominent theme.
• Social tensions were intensified.
• economy (specifically, wages/price patterns) declined sharply due to fewer workers and people  who needed work; this differed from place to place.
• Anticlericalism: priests/monks died and were replaced with the less competent, less trained.
• Saints were featured in church life more (ex.: St. Sebastion, St. Roch).

A lot of people know what the Black Death was: a plague that wiped out quite a bit of Europe's population sometime centuries ago. A lot of people DON'T know what the Black Death caused: it was one of the reasons English became a popular written language. English was spoken at this time, of course, but no one wrote in it; the Black Death changed that. Latin died, and English replaced it.

History's funny that way. Can you wrap your head around that? That the language you speak and read and write every day only came about as a serious written language because of a plague? And not just English, but Italian and several other languages, as well: some of the languages spoken at the time became written languages.

It also was one of the reasons the Renaissance came about. And the Renaissance -- and consequently the Enlightenment -- is pretty much why we aren't also English peasants right now. When the Bubonic Plague came about, people started reverting to Roman ways. Some of the ideas you are familiar with, it being part of American government and all: consent of the governed, certain unalienable rights, etc. And these theories are popular in European thinking as well: probably other countries, though I don't know to what extent.

Here's a song from historyteachers on the Bubonic Plague. Historyteachers, for those who don't know, is a youtube channel that makes historical parodies. This one is of the song Hollaback Girl by Gwen Stefani. Historyteachers saved my neck before my AP exam last May -- not a replacement for studying, but makes that studying stick in your head a little more.

Have a blessed day, and hope you've found this interesting!

[this is literally copied directly from notes I took in AP World History last year, all except the last two paragraphs. But the bullet points I randomly found in my notebook and copied here, with my shorthand notation removed so you can understand it. And, obviously, the youtube video is from youtube, not me.]

On Dreams

[This is a short post, because I'm still recovering from a series of stomachaches I had all morning. Not fun. Anyways.]

A couple months ago in AP Psych, we did dreams (and states of consciousness). A quick overview of what I learned:

1. There are five levels of consciousness: conscious, nonconscious, preconscious, subconscious, and unconscious. Sleep (which I always thought was unconcious) is actually conscious, that first level.

2. Sleep is on a 25 hour cycle of 5 stages.

• Stage 1 is that couple minutes when you're halfway between awake and asleep.
• Stage 2 is when you're fully asleep, but it's not deep sleep yet.
• Stages 3 and 4 are deep sleep - this is the stage where your body heals and grows.
• REM sleep is where you dream: it's often called paradoxical sleep, because your brain is active and your body is paralyzed (to prevent you from getting hurt while acting out your dreams).

3. There are two basic theories for our dreams:

• Freud (the man who came up with that stereotypical "and how do you feel?", lying on a couch, telling someone your deepest secrets) decided dreams are a roadway to the unconscious, that last, deepest level of consciousness. Dreams have underlying meaning; they'll help you solve your problems. They are censored stories that represent our innermost emotions. 
• The activation-synthesis theory is more biological. Our brain is trying to interpret the random electrical activity we have while sleeping. This is why dreams make no sense: our mind is simply throwing random tidbits at us while we're asleep.
• (There's a 3rd theory, the information-processing theory, that basically says dreams are a way to deal with stress. I didn't really count this one as a theory, although AP Psych seems to.)

4. Animals other than humans dream, as well. (This was obvious to me: I live in a house of cats, and have since I was born. Their paws and face twitch in their sleep, which is actually them dreaming.)

5. You can actually dream while you're not in REM sleep - it's called NREM sleep (non-REM sleep). REM sleep is associated with negative emotions, NREM sleep is associated with positive emotions: people with depression actually spend more time in REM sleep, which exacerbates their depression.

6. I remember a program I watched on dreams (I didn't write any notes down for that particular documentary -- I think it was NOVA -- which kinda irks me) that told about a man who decided dreams were actually a biological way to remember danger: your ancestors from Old Stone Age times passed on dreams of falling, of running away, of other dangers to the next generation (through handy genetics). It's been passed all the way down to you, to warn you of the perils of nature. That's why you have nightmares.



 










A lot of writers say they came up with the idea for their book (and indeed, a lot of people in history who aren't writers came up with their ideas) through dreams. Indeed, some of my favorite ideas come up through dreams. What do you think? Are dreams random images, a pathway into your deepest level of consciousness, or a genetic warning?

Have a blessed day, and watch your dreams! You never know what might happen. 

(By the way, the information here is from my AP Psych class and an article, "The Meaning of Dreams" by Jonathan Winson.)

Tuesday Research

White Tigers

First, let me say, that I don't fully remember where I got this information. I used a variety of different websites and sort of stitched similar information together from them all. Plus, it was almost a year ago now - the date on the top of my notes says 12/14/11. And my memory is pretty spotty at best.

But I do have this much:

• The striking white coat is caused by a recessive gene. Bengal tigers are the only subspecies in which it occurs.
• Tigers are the largest member of the cat family and renowned for power and strength. They have strong hind muscles to pounce on prey.
• Bengals hunt at dusk/night. They kill their prey by a bite to the neck.
• White tigers suffer from inbreeding, since they are rarely found in the wild and... well, humans love them. The limiting of the gene pool can cause low tolerance for pain, disease, and anesthesia, as well as distorted spines or cleft plates.
• They can eat up to 40 pounds of fresh kill (I believe that number fluctuates a little) at one time, but then theyeon't eat for several days after.
• Wild tigers can live between 10 and 15 years. Tigers in captivity live between 16 and 20 years. (But white tigers, as mentioned above, used to be and might still in some places be subjected to inbreeding.)
• They don't have good stamina. Prefer ambushing their prey - they are also good swimmers, but poor climbers.

To be really honest, I did this post because it's the last day of the month, and I can't resist. But I do love tigers - they were the inspiration of several (failed) attempts at stories. I still hope to one day be able to publish a fictional story from the viewpoint of a tiger.

I might make this a semi-weekly feature. You can leave suggestions for future topics in the comments. :) Have a blessed Tuesday and keep writing!

Photo by Alan L. HERE is where I found it - flickr, to be specific.

Friday Favorites

I'm posting this and the Follow Friday seperate this time, because the Follow Friday is focused on way more.

My week has been pretty lazy. I read books and blogs and I lay on my bed and daydreamed. As well as the normal necessities of life - eating, sleeping, using the bathroom. Overall, I haven't really done anything productive, except for my chores earlier this week and going out once to see Brave.

What did I read this week? I've mainly read Eon by Alison Goodman. Or should I say reread? I decided to read a second time because I recently got the 2nd book, Eona. I love this series so much - it's a perfect blend of Chinese/Eastern mythology (especially of the dragons, and the New Year's cycle of animals), and of an epic high-fantasy world.

I came across this awesome quote the other day, which really got my brain a-working.

"Books are like mirrors: if a fool looks in, you cannot expect a genius to look out."
~J. K. Rowling

So true! Anyways, here are a couple others:

"The greatest minds are capable of the greatest vices as well as the greatest virtues."
~Rene Descartes

"When governments fear the people there is liberty. When the people fear the government there is tyranny."
~Thomas Jefferson

"Our deeds determine us, as much as we determine our deeds."
~George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans)

I did some research on wikipedia about the last name there, May Ann Evans or "George Eliot", and it turns out she was a novelist during the Victorian Era in England. According to wiki:

Mary Anne (alternatively Mary Ann or Marian) Evans (22 November 1819 – 22 December 1880), better known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, journalist and translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She is the author of seven novels, including Adam Bede (1859), The Mill on the Floss (1860), Silas Marner (1861), Middlemarch (1871–72), and Daniel Deronda (1876), most of them set in provincial England and well known for their realism and psychological insight.
She used a male pen name, she said, to ensure her works would be taken seriously. Female authors were published under their own names during Eliot's life, but she wanted to escape the stereotype of women only writing lighthearted romances. An additional factor in her use of a pen name may have been a desire to shield her private life from public scrutiny and to prevent scandals attending her relationship with the married George Henry Lewes, with whom she lived for over 20 years.

I find it amazing that a woman during the restrained times of this period could find the audacity to write more than what was expected of her. I've never read her books, but just the fact that she'd publish under a guy's name to avoid being stereotyped is an indication that she was a real-life heroine of her time.

That is pretty much it. I'll just post a couple pictures now.

(I know - Pirates of the Caribbean, Harry Potter, and Doctor Who, all in one post. I am so proud to call myself weird!)